Odyssey Healthcare to Pay U.S. $12.9 Million to Resolve Hospice Fraud Case

WASHINGTON – Odyssey HealthCare, a national hospice provider, has paid the
United States $12.9 million to settle allegations that the company submitted
false claims to Medicare, the Justice Department announced today. The
Dallas-based company is alleged to have billed Medicare for services provided
to hospice patients who were not terminally ill and therefore were ineligible
for the Medicare hospice benefit.

The settlement, which covers a period from 2001 to 2005, also resolves charges
originally brought against Odyssey HealthCare by a former regional vice
president, JoAnne Russell. As part of the settlement, Ms. Russell will receive
$2,326,500 for bringing the matter to the attention of the government. Under
the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act, a private
party can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion
of the settlement if the government takes over the case and prosecutes it
successfully.

“The fiscal integrity of the Medicare hospice benefit program depends upon
compliance with eligibility standards ,” said Peter D. Keisler, Assistant
Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The United
States will take action against providers that fail to comply with those
standards.”

Odyssey HealthCare has also entered into a Corporate Integrity Agreement with
the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services.
The Corporate Integrity Agreement addresses the company's practices regarding
compliance with applicable Medicare regulations.

This settlement was the result of a collaborative investigation involving the
Department of Justice’s Civil Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the
Eastern District of Wisconsin, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern
District of Texas, and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of
the Inspector General.